Boiler installation on steam-turbine plants for aircraft



April 7, 1931. WAGNER I 1,800,124

BOILER INSTALLATION ON STEAM TURBINE PLANTS FOR AiHCRAFT Original FiledAu 30, 1921 Patented Apr. 7, 1931 PATENT OFFICE BUDOLF WAGNER, OIHAMBURG, GERMANY BOILER INSTALLATION ON STEAM-TURBINE PLANTS FORAIRCRAFT Original application filed August 30, 1921, Serial No.496,922,, and in Germany August 25, 1915. Divided and this applicationfiled'lanuary 10,

1930. Serial No. 419,876.

' (GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. L,1313) This case is a division of my application Serial No. 496,922,filed August 30, 1921.

This invention refers to steam turbine plants for aircraft in whichoil-fired high- ..5 pressure water tube boilers with an upper drum areused as steam generators. Compared to the so-called flash boilerswithout upper drum the present system has the ad vantage that thereserve of water in the upper drum allows. a better regulation of thesteam generation and feed-water supply, further temporarily a highersteam consumption without emptym thetubes of water. The 'wa-terreservein t e upper drum forms moreover a power reserve which is of greatimportanoe for aircraft if, for instance, an aeroplane descends withstopped furnace in order.

to be able to start the engine immediately if suddenly obstacles arise.

To keep the weight down the diameter and contents of the upper drumnaturally must be reduced as much as possible. Particularly in order notto expose the .tube rows nearest to the fire to being burned-through itis im rative to strictly adhere to the water leve in the upper drum.This. is necessary also because, as known, the expansion of the waterincreases considerably in cases of high steam pressures, so that thewater level changes for so this reason as well with somewhat risingtemperature of the feed-water considerably.

Especially the chan e of the position of the air-craft while inhtnaturally influences the water level in 51c upper drum importantly. vThe=present invention relates to a particular arrangement of a watertube boiler of the said'type in an engine plant of an aircraft where thelast-mentioned factor of the change of position is eliminated to theutmost, so that the regulation of the water level becomes easier tocontrol. For this. purpose the boiler is so arranged that the axis ofits upper drum lies transversal to the directionio 'sition' pf theair-craft when ascending or a downward-inclined position when descendinghas by applying this arrangement no influence or but little influenceonthe height of the 50 water level in the upper drum as shown byparticularly for aeroplanes, that the weight of the boiler-as that ofthe tube boiler,

the flight. Anupward-inclinedpo tank.

This example, shows that only the-transthe water level indicator; incurve-flights the water level remains likewise parallel with the axis ofthe upper drum since the centrifugal force acts upon the water.

In addition to these tion, the present special arrangement has, theadvantage advantages in operagenerally larger weight-portion of theentire engine plant-admits of being built symmetrically into the centreof the aeroplane.

An example for the present invention is represented in Figs. 1 and 2,Fig. 1 showing the front elevation, and Fig. 2 the plane of a steamturbine plant for, say, the middle hull .of an aeroplane or theengine-car of an airship. 1 is the hull of the craft, 2 the water v 3its superheater, 4 the u per drum set transverse to the middle 0 thehull, 5its feed-water preheater possibly afterconnected to the nest ofboiler-tubes, 6 the combustion chamber of theboiler, 7 a fan for theboiler driven, perhaps, by means of a small gasoline motor, 8 its airentrance, 9 the burner, 10 the water gauge, 11 the sto valve combinedwith a safety-valve, 12 t e gas exit.

,The turbine 13 is, in the present arranged in the front of the hull,and drlves the propeller 15, say, over a two-step gear- 7 ing 14. Thearrow 16 designatesthe drivevalve at theturbine, a

versal position of the upper drum characterizedrby" the presentinvention admits a favourable buildingfn the water tube boiler of anair-craft, as

example, I

ereby the small available particular position of its upper drum.

space of the hull will be used as well as at all possible. Further theweights of the plant can be distributed with perfect symmetry. Thelatter oint is, of course, very important. The atten ance to the entireengine lant is greatly facilitated, for instance, by the fact that as inthe sketched example t e attendance side of the boiler and the turbinemay lie immediately opposite one another. The invention contributes,therefore, essentially to the rational solution of the problem of asteam-drive for air-craft since very much de-' pends naturally, in thecase of a drive as here described/on the position of the water tubeboiler in the air-craft, and, especially, on the What I claim is A lightsteam turbine plant with oil-fired water tube boiler for air-craft, itsupper drum being positioned transverse to the course of the ght. y

In testimony whereof I afiix my si ature RUDOLF WAG ER.

